


i can see us lost in the memory

by currahees



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: M/M, lil angsty/sad but it ends softer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25609606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/currahees/pseuds/currahees
Summary: sledgefu week, 04: rain.ORa nightmare on repeat where sledge doesn't like the rain.
Relationships: Merriell "Snafu" Shelton/Eugene Sledge
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: Sledgefu Week 2020





	i can see us lost in the memory

**Author's Note:**

> this is one of my favourite thing's i've written <3  
> come find me on tumblr, username is speirtons!

Sledge is cold, right down to his bones. He silently curses himself for all those hot Alabama days where he wished for a bit of rain. What he wouldn’t do to be sat in the streaming sunlight right now. He can feel the rainwater everywhere, in his boots, under his clothes, he feels like he’ll never be truly clean of this storm. Thankfully, they’re on their way back and away from the front lines so he’ll get at least a few nights sleeping under something other than sparse trees.

It’s still at least a four hour walk back to the base camp and his feet are numb. His body is tired. He wants to be anywhere but here, walking in the rain.

“Sledgehamma’, settle a bet for us. Who’s more likely to win in a fight, me or you?”

Sledge drags his eyes from his feet up to Snafu’s eyes. There’s a glint of humour in them. “Why’re you having this debate?”

Snafu jumps into a story from earlier that day and Sledge doesn’t catch every word, but he catches enough to distract himself from his own misery for a bit. He feels Snafu’s eyes on him linger on him and he tries his best to stay in the conversation, not wanting to attract any unnecessary concern from Snaf. Not when they all had so much to worry about anyway.

They arrive back at their base camp at dusk, everyone covered in sweat and in desperate need of a meal that didn’t come out of a bag. There’s a slight communication confusion as people try to figure out when to report for duties in the morning and who’s sleeping where, but it all gets figured out fairly quickly.

Luckily, Sledge manages to bunk up with Snafu in one of the last double tents. After a quick meal of brown sludge, both men collapse onto their respective beds. The camp was slowly falling asleep around them and Sledge was almost there when he hears the rain against the tent. He feels himself breaking, the soft pitter patter of the rain was once a comfort to him but now it was a source of anxiety.

“Did I ever tell you about that time I drove my bike into the lake?”

Sledge blinks in the darkness in confusion. “Huh?”

“It was the summer of ‘35 and me and my brothers were out messing around in the fields behind our house....”

Sledge falls asleep to the soft sound of Snafu’s voice. A part of him is convinced that Snafu only talks because he likes the sound of his own voice, but another, smaller part, thinks its because he felt Sledge’s uneasy when the rain started up again. But in his half asleep state, Sledge doesn’t bother to think it over and lets himself fall into a deep sleep.

-

“You know, I never thought I’d like the sound of rain ever again in my life,” Sledge admits, pulling the coffee cup closer to his chest.

“Makes a difference when you’re under an actual roof and not just a shitty piece of fabric,” Snafu replies, taking a sip of his coffee.

The rain pelted down outside, both of them sat on their back porch watching it. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and rainwater flooded the air, Sledge breathed it in deeply. It took years for him to be comfortable in the rain again, although some days he was brought back to those days in the war where he felt as if he would never be clean. The days where the rain water made its way into every part of him and into the deepest parts of his heart.

“Did you know?” Sledge asks.

Snafu raises an eyebrow, a silent encouragement for Sledge to clarify.

“That night back in ‘45. On the base camp, in the tent. Did you know that the rain was stressing me out?”

There’s a pause before Snafu answers. “I knew before that night. Whenever it rained you got all tense, your eyes would always dart back and forth and your breath got quicker.”

Sledge nods, taking in what Snafu had just admitted. It takes him several minutes to form a coherent response, the gratitude and admiration he was feeling for Snafu threatening to swallow him whole. “Thank you.”

“Nothin’ to thank me for. You’ve saved me more times than I can count,” Snafu mumbles behind his coffee cup.

The rain picks up outside, drowning out Sledge’s heavy heartbeat.

“C’mon, we’ll catch a cold sittin’ out here in the rain,” Snafu stands up, holding his hand out for Sledge to grab. Sledge doesn’t hesitate and laces their fingers together, allowing Snafu to pull him away from the storm and into the safety of their home. Maybe he’d never be truly comfortable in the rain.


End file.
